1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the nautical arts and in particular to an apparatus and method for controlling the fair lead of the spinnaker halyard from the masthead to the head of the spinnaker sail.
2. Description of Background Art
A spinnaker is a large, light, free flying balloon-line headsail used to improve a sailboat's down wind performance. It is generally used when running or when on a broad reach. The spinnaker is a three sided sail whose base is the foot of the sail. The top corner or head of the spinnaker is attached to a halyard that hoists the sail to one of the uppermost blocks on a mast. The leeward corner of the sail base is the clew which is attached to a sheet used to control the sail shape. A guy is attached to the weather or windward base corner called the tack. The tack is sometimes attached to the deck near the bow of cruising sailboats, but is more commonly attached to one end of a spinnaker pole that projects the sail outward to the side of the boat away from the mainsail where it is more effective. The inboard end of the spinnaker pole is attached to the mast. The weight of the pole is supported by a halyard called a topping lift.
In current practice, there are generally two recognized design concepts by which a spinnaker halyard is led from inside the modern mast to the spinnaker sail. One concept provides one or more sheaves set side-by-side within the mast on the foreside of the mast and immediately beneath the top of the mast. The halyards pass over these sheaves and exit through slots in the mast wall. The sides of the slots are rounded and in some cases covered with a plastic material to reduce friction and minimize chafe that occurs to the halyard in rubbing against these surfaces. In such designs, no attempt is made to maintain a fair lead from the sheaves to the head of the sail.
Another contemporary design provides for the halyards to exit the mast through slots in the mast wall several feet beneath the top of the mast. The exit slots are on the foreside of the mast to port and starboard of the centerline. Normally two halyards are used. The halyards lead upward from these slots to blocks suspended by shackles from fixed cranes. The cranes project forward of the mast and outward from the centerline. The blocks swing and pivot freely and normally allow a fair lead to the head of the sail. However, when a sail is jibed or a second sail is set on the lazy halyard before the first sail is lowered, a crossover of the halyards occurs preventing a repeat of spinnaker setting maneuvers unless proper alignment of the halyards is reestablished. This may mean sending a sailor to the top of the mast to uncross the halyards.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,921 issued on Aug. 25, 1992 to Ian C. Howlett discloses a mast provided with guide means for halyards. Howlett '921 teaches means for guiding halyards within a hollow mast and for maintaining them in spaced apart relationship. Support is clearly given to the need for maintaining halyards in good condition by reducing wear or entanglement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,088 issued on Sep. 1, 1987 to Fabio Perini discloses a sail rigging with fairing which envelopes the mast and provides a smooth continuum of an air foil from the leading edge of the fairing around and behind the mast and into the body of the sail so as to avoid eddy currents and air flow interruption across the continuum of the sail and mast. Perini '088 discloses support at the top of the mast for anchoring the fore and aft stays. The masthead has two transmission pulleys for a halyard which extends through the inside of the mast and passes through a central opening over the pulley for engaging the top of the sail and lifting same. It is noted that Perini '088 points out that although sailing craft designs have improved over the early years with a competitive factor becoming increasing important in commercial considerations, it was not until non-commercial activities such as the "America's Cup Race" that much time and attention was given to the highly technical aspects of sailboat design. Perini '088 points out that a great deal of time, effort and dollars have been spent on developing even the smallest details of the ships, their sails, and their designs and construction showing that any improvement which could give even a small edge in competitive race was important.
There is a need for maintaining a fair lead for a halyard from the mast to the head of the spinnaker sail. There is a need to provide such a lead so as to have the halyard be responsive to the load of the sail without the concern of chafing or wearing of the halyard. There is a need to be able to set a second spinnaker prior to dousing the first spinnaker to be flown. And there is a further need to accomplish repetitive set and douse maneuvers without tangling the halyards or causing them to cross over and around each other. And particularly on cruising sail boats where only a single spinnaker halyard may be employed, there is a need to be able to use that one halyard in either a port or starboard set, subsequently jibe and ultimately lower the sail without encountering the problems now routinely faced with a spinnaker sock (dousing device) fouled across the forestay as a result of the jibe. It is these needs that have not previously been addressed and are thus addressed by the present invention.